British Expeditionary Force

The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was a military formation of the British Army that was sent to fight in France and Belgium in both World War I and World War II, led by John French and Douglas Haig during the first war and John Vereker in the second war. The BEF arrived in Belgium in 1914 to fight back the advance of the Imperial German Army, but it was destroyed at Mons, Le Cateau, the Aisne, and Ypres, and the BEF was divided into two armies on 26 December 1914. In 1939, the BEF was recreated for deployment to France at the start of World War II, and the BEF suffered a similar fate. It was again forced out of Belgium and into France by Germany, although it was forced to evacuate Western Europe in June 1940 after the Germans overran France. The BEF was evacuated from Dunkirk, and it was disbanded back in England.